The present invention relates to the continuous casting of slab ingots having basically rather thin dimensions in the direction commonly described as thickness; and more particularly the invention relates to a method, treatment, equipment and device for continuous casting of thin metal preferably steel slab ingots whereby basically an automatic startup as well as subsequent continuous casting proper under utilization of an appropriate mold is encompassed within the system in the general sense.
Thin slab ingots within the purview of the invention are basically a more or less flat casting or casting ingots amenable to coiling. The casting of thin ingots of this type is of course of interest because ingots are usually subsequently rolled down to flat sheet or plate stock and the thinner the original ingot or billet, the less working is needed subsequently. One can envision here, moreover, that the task at hand is to develop a casting process in which the ingot as it leaves the mold is, for example, less than 130 mm thick and as thin as 30 mm at a width range of 400-1600 mm. Generally speaking, it is of interest to choose a rectangular cross section with a very large width to height ratio and which approximates as much as possible the thickness of a final product such as a rolled plate or sheet stock. This subsequent rolling, either hot or cold rolling is to be minimized accordingly so that one can also say that the continuous casting of thin slab ingots provides flat billets which can immediately be fed into hot, broad width rolling mills without having to use blooming or slabbing mills.
The state of the art in this field is generally little more than experience so that at least theoretically it should be possible to cast thin slab ingots under the expectation that disadvantageous segregation and liquation occurs in the core of the casting and that in view of the known techniques of cooling, a solidification is to be expected which is low in dendrites However, the startup as well as during the pour procedure, new techniques, equipment and devices are needed.